Do You Remove Tree Stumps or Not?

Can anyone out there tells us about a home made idea
we could put together to get rid of tree stumps.I know
you can purchase stump rot but I wondered if anyone
had a homemade remedy. ~Charlene

If they are small to medium stumps my husband has a
remedy that so far has worked great for us. He has
the boys help, and they dig down and all around the
stump about a foot or so. Then he takes his chain
saw and cuts as low down as he can go. After he
removes the stump, they place soil back over it and
we plant grass seed. So far this has worked great!

Also if you can cut it straight off so it's level you can
use it for a sun dial or place a bird bath on top of it.

I've also read that you can drill holes into the stump,
sprinkle with high-nitrogen fertilizer and keep it moist-
-this will speed up the process of rot/decay, but it's
still a long process. You can hire tree companies to
remove stumps or rent a grinder-- but both are quite
expensive.

You can also consider hollowing out the top of the
stump with a router, drill or anything that will dig out
the wood enough to create a bowl-like shape in the
top of the stump. Fill it with water or birdseed for the
birds. Or fill it with potting soil and use it as a planter.
This will help it decompose faster as well, and you'll
have a neat yard feature.

MORE TIPS

Pouring straight bleach down in holes or cracks of a
tree stump will rot that thing all to pieces, from the top
clear down in the ground. Then it can just simply be
easily pushed over. It's a slow process, and I usually
repeat that treatment several times, but I can assure
you, it works very well, even when quite a tall, and
large stump of a tree has been left behind. ~Mary B.

I thought your readers would like to know of a natural
way to remove stumps. I first saw this tip with our local
"Garden Guy" Dave Owen. You need a jar of blackberry
jam and enough compost to cover the stump. Cut the
stump as close to the ground as you can. Pour a whole
jar (8 oz.) over the entire top of the stump. Pat compost
around the top and sides of the stump, covering the jam.
The stump decays naturally - will take some months to
do so. The jam encourages composting bacteria to do
their work. Kind of a fun, nature moment! ~Catherine

Another great trick to removing tree stumps I found in
a Jerry Baker book. (It works! I had a stump that could
have made us famous on the America's Funniest Home
Videos!) He said to cut the stump at or below ground
level and drill a bunch of holes ("the more the merrier").
Fill the holes with a commercial stump remover containing
potassium nitrate and plug the holes. Let it sit for a year,
remove the plugs, and pour in kerosene. Let it sit an hour
or so and light it and the stump will smolder away to ashes.
I have loved so many of his tonics. His books are great for
anyone to check out, there are gardening and cleaning
tonics that work magic and save quite a few pennies!
~Barbara D.

About The Author

Brenda Hyde is a freelance writer living on ten acres in rural Michigan with her husband and three kids. She is a mom, grandma, gardener, cook and writer. She blogs on all of these topics at Harvestmoongazette.blogspot.com.

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